Absolutely dreadful, pretentious, nonsensical drivel. Maybe I didn't "get" its commentary on how Chinese culture was shaped throughout history (as I read it was about somewhere), but if that was what it was about, I think it was done hideously. I tried, I honestly tried to give this one a chance, and goodness knows I love three-parter movies because if just one part is great it may redeem the whole movie. But I watched and watched and absolutely nothing became clear, the acting and script were ridiculous and said absolutely nothing, and it wasn't even visually stimulating to boot. I'd like to hear if anybody understood what was going on, and if you know me, I'm not one who's always clamouring for story or plot, but I was really struggling to figure out what the heck this movie was about, and why I should care about any of the silly, underdeveloped, shallow characters who seemed to do nothing but delight in uttering nonsensical phrases and prance around crazily. Perhaps the only thing which could redeem this film is its lilting score, which is quite charming in places but is hardly enough to lift it above its ridiculousness. Pity, because this is quite the cast here, but they're all wasted, especially Joan Chen's horrific giggling doctor. Ugh. Horrible, horrible movie. If I had five thumbs I would turn them all down. It's been a while since I gave such a low rating to any movie, but I think this one deserves it.